= = = = = USS Chimera, Deck 5 = = = = When Michael got to deck five the first thing that he noticed was the darkness around him. The main lights were out and it was the backup light and the Red Alert light that brightened the hall thus creating a red lighting effect. Michael looked around and could see that most of the systems sustained moderate to heavy damage and that was not the worst, the structural integrity of the Deck had been dangerously compromised. As far as Michael was concerned the Diplomatic Mission had been a complete failure, in his view Starfleet should take this as an open sign of Romulan expansionism and as an aggressive move. {The Federation should launch an attack into the Star Empire} but that was just Michael’s view. At the moment his only job was to clear the deck before half of it is lost. Michael turned to the handful of crewman that had been assigned to him. They had all crawled through the Jefferies Tubes to get on to the deck, it was the only way to get on and off the deck when the turbo lifts had gone offline. It was not long before a large number of people were on top of them who required assistance. “Right people, we have got to clear this deck quickly. We have only got a few hundred seconds before it goes, so save as many as you can and do not get trapped here. The only way off the deck is by the tubes so spilt up and make sure every body knows were to go. Evacuated these people, I will scout ahead and look for survivors. There are still some injured and dazed that don’t know were to go.” Michael and the team spilt up and stared running down the corridor looking for stragglers. After a brief sprint down the corridor, Michael came to a sector of the deck which was more badly damaged that the rest of the deck. In front of him was a large amount of equipment and parts of bulkheads scattered around. Michael felt something hit his foot as he was running, Michael looked down to see a hand coming out from under a pile of debris. Michael lifted the bulkhead up and through to one side. Under it was a female Vulcan Crewman how had serious head injuries, Michael freed the rest of her body and through her over his shoulder. Michael continued on his course down the corridor looking for any more survivors. “One Hundred seconds remaining until structural failure.” The voice of the computer was like the foot steps of an enemy getting closer to his position. +TAPS+ “How many left, sergeant?” +TAPS+ +TAPS+ “Not many sir, almost done.” +TAPS+ +TAPS+ “Good it looks we got them all, get everybody out. I am coming back to you.” +TAPS+ Michael turned to go back, when there was an explosion from his left side. Another one of the primary relays blow, had he have been a few meters forward the explosion would have taken his head right off. As it was it the blast only knocked him to the ground. When Michael got back to his feet, he saw that the path in front of him was on fire. {Great, just bloody brilliant.} Michael looked around, there was only one way to go. Michael started running back the way he had just come from again with the Vulcan over his shoulder. “Twenty seconds until structural failure,” announced the computer. Michael was running out of time but he was sure that there was another access point to a Jefferies tube. Michael picked up the pace at which he was running, by now it was almost a full sprint. Michael was pounding down the corridor avoiding small fire and debris which were all around the corridor. “Ten seconds until structural failure” Just as Michael was giving up hope, he saw an access point out of the corner of his eye. Michael opened it and pushed the Vulcan in side. “Three seconds until structural failure” Michael dived in after the Vulcan and closed the hatch behind him. He was just in time, a second later and his parents would have been getting a purple heart. Michael went to tap his combadge to tell his team that he was okay, he noticed that there was a small amount of blood around his chest and his uniform was ripped. The combadge had been ripped from in the blast along with part of his uniform. There was no way to contact his team, even the Vulcans badge was missing. Michael started crawling while dragging the Vulcan who was still unconscious behind him. = = = = = End Log = = = = _________________________________________________________________ Stay in touch with absent friends - get MSN Messenger http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger